Ryan budget would increase employee pension contributions

Apr. 1, 2014 - 06:00AM
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The federal workforce would be cut and pension contributions would increase under a budget proposal released April 1 by a top Republican lawmaker.

The Path to Prosperity report released by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., the chairman of the House Budget Committee, would allow federal agencies to hire one replacement employee for every three that leave. Some national security positions would be exempt.

Pension contributions could rise to as much as 6 percent of employee salaries while newer employees would transition from pensions to a defined contribution plan. .

The budget proposal also calls for military pay reform and calls by pointing to “explosive growth” in compensation costs but does not lay out specific cuts, only a call for the military to review pay scales. But the proposal would also provide funding to head off planned force reductions.

The budget also calls for agencies to sell off a portion of the federal fleet and a portion of federal real estate as well as government land — excluding national parks and wildlife refuges.

“This budget piles even more burdens on the federal workforce. Employees are already juggling higher workloads with fewer resources and shrinking compensation," said National Treasury Employees Union president Colleen Kelley.

The proposal would also keep agency funding mostly at sequestration levels and would also eliminate agency student loan repayment plans for federal workers.

“Sequestration is a continuing disaster, and not just for federal agencies and their employees, but the public they serve,” Kelley said. “Rather than extend it to 2024, as this proposal would do, we need to be moving forward to eliminate it and get back to the goal of providing the services Americans want and need.”

The overall budget proposes $5.1 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, mostly through cuts in the Affordable Care Act provisions and agency discretionary spending.